So, you’ve picked out a commercial corset pattern and have selected the size that you want to use – but wait! There is a discrepancy between your measurements and the pattern measurements!

If you have ever adjusted patterns before, you know that it can be a frustrating task – that’s why picking a pattern that is as close to your size as possible to start out with is the best idea. Making up your muslin will help with finer details, but before you start cutting out your fabric, you might want to make some of these adjustments now.

In mid-January the SCA barony I live in celebrated the step-up of a new Baron and Baroness, who have German personas. To recognize their elevation in a symbolic kind of way, several of us planned to add German elements to our existing costumes. As I wasn’t entirely sure if I could pull together a new German gown in time for the coronet, I decided to start with accessories. First the Gollar I already posted about, and next a new hat.

By early December I hadn’t yet started drafting a pattern for a Cranach gown, and was starting to feel nervous… when the Historical Sew Monthly posted the January theme, I could see an obvious item – and decided to make a German gollar for the challenge.

Historical Sew Monthly January 2017

What the item is: German Gollar

The Challenge: January: Firsts & Lasts – Create either the first item in a new ensemble, or one last piece to put the final fillip on an outfit.

Cathrin Åhlén (Katafalk) describes the gollar as a “common garment” for keeping warm; a short cape with “either a high collar or no collar at all, and it can be either short or it can be more of a cloak and go down to the hips”. She describes it as made in silk brocade with fancy clasps for higher social classes, but on “simpler women you almost always see no closure at all”. She speculates that those garments are closed with hooks and eyes, had no closures, or may have had hidden lacings. She notes that they can be lined in fur for extra warmth, and were often decorated with contrasting borders.

I found most examples of the border-decorated gollars on the ‘camp-follower’ (kampfraus, lower-class) styles, while when the gollar is worn with a Cranach-style gown, (court gown?) it’s almost always plain black. With that in mind I thought to make a semi-reversible gollar… though got a bit hung up on that when it came to the closure.

Since it’s a ‘top’ layer garment, worn over the dresses.. I would see it (and a hat) as the ‘last piece’ put on when dressing. In her “how to Frau” tutorial, Cathrin names the gollar as the last item (before accessories like purses, belts, etc). Funny enough, it’s the FIRST item I’ve made for this overall project, with the hopes that if I really can’t find enough time to finish the gown, that I can “throw” this over another gown and “pass” for an attempt at German. (Italian tourist perhaps?)